Dairy farming has been an important aspect of agriculture for thousands of years. Traditionally, dairy animals were hand-milked by a milker (“dairyman”) sitting on a stool. Milk was expressed from a dairy animal's teat by the dairyman by squeezing the teat, then moving the hand downward from an udder towards the end of the teat. This action was repeated, using both hands for speed. Milk trapped in a milk duct was squirted out the end of the teat into a bucket supported between the knees of the dairyman. Milking often took place in a field where the dairy animal was tethered to a post, leaving the hind of the animal unrestrained.
An increase in world population has created a demand for more efficient milking methods and has led to the commercialization of dairy farming. There are now fewer, but larger and more efficient dairy farms, operated by fewer workers. Large scale dairy farming methods include milking sheds (“milking parlors”) with machines to maximize the output of dairy animals and minimize physical stresses on dairymen and dairy animals. Efficient milking through the use of milking machines often minimizes time a dairy animal spends in a confined stall, and maximizes time spent in a field grazing.
Modern dairy farms include milking parlors, a specialized area on the dairy farm where milking is performed. Milking parlor layouts include rotary, parallel, flat barn and herringbone milking parlors. A rotary milking parlor is a raised rotating platform where the dairy animals stand on the outer edge of the platform. A parallel parlor is a raised milking platform where the dairy animals stand perpendicular to the operator pit and the dairy animals are milked from the rear. A flat barn milking parlor is an area for milking where the dairyman is on the same level as the dairy animal. A herringbone milking parlor is a milking parlor in which dairy animals stand side-by-side, angled towards a pit.
Milking machines are utilized in milking parlors to extract milk. A milking machine applies a continuous vacuum to the teats, causing accumulation of fluids (“congestion”) in teat tissues. Air is admitted into a pulsation chamber to allow a liner to collapse around the end of the teat and relieve congestion in the teat tissue, resulting in milking. Four teatcups are attached to the four teats of a dairy animal. Four milk hoses from the teatcups are combined in a milking claw and transported to a bulk tank, in a central milk hose.
It is often difficult to keep a milking claw centered under a dairy animal's udder during milking. Dairy animals often move during milking, making stationary supports for centering milking claws under a dairy animal's udder undesirable, in that a stationary support cannot move with the dairy animal. A stationary milking hose support may also protrude vertically upward into a milking parlor, making it difficult for a dairy animal to enter and exit the milking parlor. A dairyman's tasks may also be impaired by a stationary milking hose support extending vertically upward.